Sasuke: What Have I Been Doing All These Years?

Meanwhile, Kisame Hoshigaki launched an attack on Sarutobi Asuma. The two traded blows back and forth, and for the moment, he was unable to take Asuma down.

The honest Kisame Hoshigaki immediately formed hand seals and shouted, "Water Release, Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu."

Two water dragons formed atop the lake, devouring each other as the powerful aftershock of the ninja technique spread outward.

At that critical moment, Hatake Kakashi unleashed the exact same technique.

"Using the same technique as me?" Kisame Hoshigaki seemed somewhat surprised that Hatake Kakashi had managed to use a Water Release technique just as powerful as his at such a crucial moment. That was no easy feat.

"How did you get here?" Sarutobi Asuma asked in surprise.

Hatake Kakashi replied, "Although I entrusted this matter to you earlier, I was still a little worried."

In the field, another Hatake Kakashi had already arrived behind Uchiha Itachi with a Shuriken in hand.

"Hatake Kakashi?" Uchiha Itachi turned around and said coldly.

"You're a Rogue Ninja. What are you doing back in the village?" Hatake Kakashi asked.

Upon hearing that, Uchiha Sasuke outside the screen instantly sat up straight.

The string of spectacular Jonin-level ninja technique clashes had left him dazzled, but Hatake Kakashi's question was also something he desperately wanted to know. What exactly did a Rogue Ninja like Uchiha Itachi want by returning to the village?

Hearing this, Uchiha Itachi in the screen turned around and merely said flatly, "Hatake Kakashi."

"Those eyes are still the same as before. Of course—they belong to the rightful inheritor of the Sharingan. I need to prepare for the worst." Hatake Kakashi stared at Uchiha Itachi's eyes, anxiety flickering in his gaze.

"What a surprise. No wonder you could use the same technique as me. I never thought that, aside from Itachi, someone else really possessed those kinds of eyes." Kisame Hoshigaki teased. "You must be Kakashi, the Copy Ninja."

"I'm the one who should be surprised. I never expected the suspicious people discovered at the teahouse to be Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki, the freak from Kirigakure." Hatake Kakashi retorted without backing down.

"I didn't expect you to know who I am." Kisame Hoshigaki said with a curl of his lips.

"So you're one of Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen." Hatake Kakashi's expression was equally grave. "That massive blade must be Samehada."

Though Hatake Kakashi had never met Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen, their reputation was immense.

The seven of them were the top experts of Kirigakure, each wielding a ninja sword with its own distinct abilities and uses.

The owners of those Seven Ninja Swords were often the very finest among Kirigakure's elite.

Every one of them possessed strength at least on the level of an Elite Jonin.

But Kisame Hoshigaki's next words caught the attention of Hatake Kakashi outside the screen.

"I heard you fought that brat Zabuza?" Kisame Hoshigaki asked directly. "He's someone worth carving up."

"Me? Zabuza?" Hatake Kakashi fell into thought. Judging from the appearance of Uchiha Sasuke in the screen, the time period of this scene did not seem too far from the present—at most, within half a year.

In other words, within the next half year, he would encounter two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen in succession?

Any one of those seven possessed the ability to pose a tremendous threat to him.

Although he was confident that he should be able to win, they were hardly nobodies. Every one of them was formidable.

However, before Kisame Hoshigaki could make a move, Uchiha Itachi stopped him.

"Kisame, don't act rashly."

"If you truly fight him, I'm afraid you won't be able to leave unscathed," Uchiha Itachi said. "And if this drags on, the other ninja will catch wind of it and come running."

"But..." Kisame Hoshigaki wanted to argue, but Uchiha Itachi cut him off. "Don't forget our objective. You didn't come here to suffer."

"Then I'd like to hear what your objective is." Hatake Kakashi said.

As soon as he finished speaking, his Shadow Clone turned into a puff of white smoke and disappeared.

"We only came to look for something," Uchiha Itachi answered.

Hatake Kakashi immediately pressed, "What are you looking for?"

"I don't have as much time to waste as Kisame does!" Uchiha Itachi did not answer. He merely spoke indifferently, but in an instant, he thrust out one hand, gripping it full of Darts.

At the same time, Hatake Kakashi reacted as if facing a formidable enemy and instantly performed a ninja technique.

"Ninja Art, Water Release, Water Style: Water Wall."

Hatake Kakashi instantly formed a Water Style: Water Wall around himself. At the same time, the surrounding waves transformed into countless water spikes that blasted toward him, only to be blocked at the very last moment.

"What incredible casting speed." Hatake Kakashi was stunned by Uchiha Itachi's speed in performing ninja techniques.

As a genius ninja, his hand seal speed was already extremely fast, yet one could still make out the seals he formed. Uchiha Itachi, however, had completed his hand seals the very instant he extended his hand. If not for his Sharingan, which allowed him to see Itachi's movements, he probably would not even know how he had died.

Hatake Kakashi outside the screen looked even more solemn. As expected, Uchiha Itachi was stronger than he had been back then—far stronger.

But the most shocked of all was Uchiha Sasuke. He was stunned by Uchiha Itachi's casting speed.

Hatake Kakashi's technique speed was already unbelievably fast, far beyond anything he could follow, yet Uchiha Itachi's speed shocked him even more. He had no idea when Uchiha Itachi had completed the technique.

"Damn it, is the gap between us really this huge?"

Uchiha Sasuke clenched both fists, unable to believe it.

If Uchiha Itachi had become this powerful, then how could his future self possibly compete with him, let alone take revenge?

Would he never be able to catch up to him?

At that moment, he began to hate himself for being satisfied these past few years with the so-called honor of being first in his grade. What had he even learned at the Ninja Academy?

It looked like he had improved, but why was the gap between him and these top-tier experts so enormous?

Hatake Kakashi was already an expert unlike any he had ever heard of or seen before. Whether it was his presence, the power of his techniques, or the speed of his hand seals, everything about him lay beyond anything he had previously understood.

The Uchiha Clan had been wiped out too early. Back then, he had only just begun training and had never truly seen what the Uchiha Clan's experts were like. But presumably, they had been no less formidable than Hatake Kakashi.

This was not meant to belittle the Uchiha Clan's experts. After all, Hatake Kakashi's reputation was immense as well—Konoha's Number One Technician.